Thursday, July 24, 2008

Going Down Memory Lane

Yesterday I drove to Seremban with my father and was in adventurous mood. I was told to try the road going to Sepang Gold Coast and then turn right to go to Kg LBJ and go to Labu in order to exit to Seremban. I religiously follwed the instructions and Lo and behold! I managed to pass through down memory lane, especially upon reaching Kg Batu 9 in Labu. I remembered more than 40 years ago that I was in Kg LBJ to visit the JKKR and gave a talk to the settlers. I was then working at my first job in FELDA. Those days were really lousy. I had expected to be sent to the region as regional secretary, instead I remained in HQ in Jalan Maktab and worst, I was the only Arts graduate amongst the guys who qualified as Agricultural Officers and two of them were OP's ( Old Putras ) and though I enjoyed the short stint, I left that organization and joined the elite MCS. When I drove past the junction to Bandar Enstek, I realized how times have changed. I passed by Kg LBJ and remembered that girl, Azizah who was my clerk in FELDA HQ who took a snapshot at the Settler's house in Kg LBJ together with President Lyndon Johnson at the window's opening which perhaps the only one facing the dirt gravel road which was notoriously dirty laterite and for every passing car, you could see the mushrooming red earth flying into the air after passing through in the Scheme's Land Rover. She was a sweet lass and my colleague AK Bear was quite attracted to her.But fate had it AK Bear left to join the elite MCS too. My father had no inkling where we were until we reached Tiroi in Labu, which was a cowboy one street town with a nostalgic air of what seemed to go backwards more than 50 years ago. I was then staying in the quarters provided by the Govt in Jalan Keyser near the road from S'ban to Labu. I recalled once a classmate by the name of Saparudin from the Kampong in Labu who tricked me into believing that he would give me a macaque which he claimed to have tamed. I believed him through and through and waited forlornly at the Bus Station in S'ban hoping he would appear with the long tailed monkey. After waiting for hours and not seeing him coming down the bus from Labu, I realized that I had been had. Next day when I met him at school, I told him " Celako kau, den kau tipu yo! " in Negri Sembilan dialect which we always used when things go awry. When I told my father this he just smiled. It just showed how naive I was, and I was then in Special Malay One, the transition class for those who came from the Malay School to join KGV School in S'ban. Well after such a long period if time, it seemed I had come a full cycle. When I was in Labu Road( actually Keyser Road ) I used to collect mangoes which dropped during the early morning mist at the house on a small hillock just behind the quarters where I stayed. One morning the house owner thought there was a thief outside the house and peek through the window. To my consternation, I shone the torchlight straight onto his face and he panicked, thinking I was a Ghost appearing from nowhere. Seremban town centre now is like Khan-El-Khalilee in Cairo. It's so haphazard and disorderly. The town's stoplights seemed to have no coordination and motorists had to negotiate the roads leading to Tampin, Kuala Pilah, Jelebu and PD. My trip down memory lane is quite rewarding to say the ;east. Now I know where to avoid the perennial exodus of city-dwellers during Hari Raya causing miles of stragglers who wanted to celeberate HR in their neglected Kampongs. I told my wife, we need not "Balik Kampong" and caught in mile long congestion on the North-South Expressway. See you next posting! Bye.

18 comments:

nue said...

macaque abah? a cat would have interested me way more than a macaque. hahahahhaha.

CZZ said...

...interesting recollection Uncle... I wonder do u keep a log or journal of all these flashbacks hehe...

abdulhalimshah said...

Nue and Zaaba,
I call it "berok" but actually "monyet". Just like it's expression.
It's in my video in the brain. I keep it all wrappep up for the last fifty decades.

millipedemom said...

Abah, reading this post I cannot help but recall what a deplorable state my secondary school is in. What previously used to be "tersergam indah" is now dwarfed and flanked by the monstrosity that is Ipoh Parade. A mall was (allowed to be) built right beside the school! Even the primary school had to be relocated because cracks in the structure were showing due to construction. SIGH. What haphazard town planning! Abomination!

kaykuala said...

Hal,
It is true! One way to avoid the perennial jam on reaching the S’ban toll is this alternative route. I would take the Elite from PJ and exit at the KLIA toll. I would then go towards the LCC Terminal, past the Enstek through Kg. LBJ. But instead of turning left to Labu I would take the opposite direction to go to Seremban 2 township for my weekend sojourn.

abdulhalimshah said...

Miilepedemom & Kaykuala,

Actually it's a shame that our present day decision-makers are obsessed by the so-called profit-motive rather than aesthetics. Our modern day hedonistic tendency and capricious "nafs" are the real root of evil in this country.
Eventually almost all places of nostalgic recollection will disappear. This was what I saw in Mecca and Medina. The powers that be (the Bani Saud) are the destroyers of the holy places and not as what they claim, "The Custodian of the two Harams".

In future I shall take the straight road to S'ban 2, instead of the left turn into Kg LBJ. Btw, Kg LBJ had more than just my FELDA days experience. It was the only place where an American President ( the late Lyndon B. Johnson) was photographed at the window of a settler's house and it appeared on the front page of the NSTP. Azizah should have been offered a Fullbright scholarship and not just a plain clerk who sat at a desk outside my room and I wonder how large a family she's having now. Poor AK Bear, she just wasn't interested in him(or was it the other way round-perhaps Yasir could vouch for that). Otherwise they would have a different story to tell to their grandchildren now. But ALLAH is most HIGH, we could only propose, but it is HE who disposes. ALLAHUAKBAR!!

millipedemom said...

Dear abah, I hope you realize that this is me Enya:) It is past 2am when I am posting this. It is quite strange that most often than not, the very first night Tuni is away, I am bogged down (or kept up) by insomnia... very puzzling indeed.

abdulhalimshah said...

I know Enya. I have been having some sleeples nites too. Perhaps my upstairs are overactive. Or it could be due to the dosage which I had stopped to treat my asthma.
Btw Doctor Jo said I have to be treated with the right nebuliser or else it could become worse. The inhaler costed me RM 160 which should last me a month.
If you cant sleep, pls do the solat tahajjud and solat hajat and pray for the best of the world and hereafter. The Syaitans would probably slip beneath your ears down to the nose if you dont zikrullah. Just pulling your leg! But if you cant sleep, better pray and maybe when you are exhausted, you just ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! like Pak Lah! Ha ha ha ha....

millipedemom said...

Hehehe! I will do just that abah right after I post this comment.

Sorry to hear you have trouble sleeping again. Is the RM160 inhaler a steroid one like Pulmicort? Hope the asthma clears away soon.

I think my sleeplessness has also got to do with the rare indulgent treat of teh tarik this morning:( I am that sensitive to caffeine it seems.. even after downing 2L of H20 throughout the day...

Goodnight abah! Hope you get to catch 40winks or more soon.

abdulhalimshah said...

Dear Enya,
Thanks for the reply. The accuhaler is a newer generation spray which doesnt contain steroids. Hope I recover soon. Otherwise I will still be like the "Harimau Padri of Rokan" but on a much subdued nature. hahahahaha....Umi says Tuni n Zaharin is the chip of the old block!

Husni aka Tuni said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Husni aka Tuni said...

I would have waited for the macaque. They are useful.

abdulhalimshah said...

Tuni,
There's no need it for now because the two legged creatures who are their cousins which Darwin found out abounds the corridors of power.
Once the Tunku said, he doesn't want the people in UMNO to treat him like the proverbial monkey, tied to a post in chains and the "Tuan" who as members of the Party (now known as akar umbi) like to see the "berok" do their bidding by asking the poor creature to go up and down the pillar.
Now these "beroks" not only are asked to run up and down the pillar to post, but these monleys are raiding the parlour and eating all the leftovers on the table of their "Tuans" or even before their "Tuans" had touched the food, they gobbled everything down and after taking their fill goes to climb on the back of others and showing off their fangs with glee.
No, today I rather shoot these "beroks" with elephant guns which you see the white sahibs carry during their Safaris in Tarzan films of the yesteryears. These "Beroks" not only tear the flowers given by their "Tuans" but worse they shit on them!

maarofkassim said...

Assalamualikum Tuan Hj. I am staying in Seremban and I am confused by this sentence "In future I shall take the straight road to S'ban 2, instead of the left turn into Kg LBJ.". From from where to where are you travelling?

abdulhalimshah said...

Dear Maarof,
It's my pleasure to welcome a fellow " Nogori" guy in my column( I don't have one in any newspaper, so here I am ). Your name sounded familiar, perhaps we must have met before. I was working in FELDA immediately upon graduation in 1968 but left soon after because my boss was so overbearing and snuff our breath out, we just could not figure out whether he was human or otherwise.
Coming back to your question, I was responding to Kaykuala's comment. He followed same route from the highway leading to KLIA and turned off on the left exit towards the LCC terminal. But I went and followed the direction leading to Sepang Gold Coast where instead of turning left at the stoplight, I turned right towards Sepang. Then just follow it until you see the sign Kg. LBJ and turn left. For the people who have houses in Seremban 2, just proceed straight as what Kaykuala did because his weekend palace is in S2. Am I correct, Kaykuala? It was a refreshing change because there's no toll to rob you and the roads are well maintained. But it took a longer time to arrive in Somban.

abdulhalimshah said...

Ooopss, I am so sorry Kaykuala, I made an error in my reply to Maarof. You still turn left to LBJ and past the junction to Enstek, proceed on to the direction to Labu. But instead of the left turn at one junction, you took a right turn towards S2 and thus bypassed Batu 9 and Tiroi to come out near the junction at the Museum Negeri.
So Maarof, if you have taken the old road from Somban to Labu and Tiroi, you should have the bearings without need of a GPS.

abdulhalimshah said...

En. Maarof,
Pohon banyak maaf, lupo nak jawap salam. Waalaykummusalam Warahmatullahi Wabarkatuh.
Next sunday I will be driving again to Seremban for the meeting of my family's registered Association known for short as BERKAT. I would love again to take that scenic route and would pass by fruit stalls before Batu 9 and Tiroi, but I have to be on time, as it starts early.

kaykuala said...

Hal,
That's right.U turn left to Labu,I turn right towards Sendayan.But after about 5km I take left at the traffic lights to go towards S'ban 2. I prefer this road but I seldom take it. My wife somehow feels unsafe.The cars speed as at the h'way but the road is narrow. There are blind corners typical of country roads.I took it recently when there was a jam announced on the radio arising from an accident before the Sban toll and traffic wasn't moving.